Wrecked
by DaenerysTargary3n
Summary: When Quinn is attacked, New Directions and Will come together to support her and help her recover. During the process, Will and Quinn grow closer and fall in love. Set during season 1. Rated M for violence, sexual content and language.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

Hello, happy readers! Just a brief intro to this story which I predict will be about 15 chapters long. Firstly, I do not own _Glee _or its characters or plotlines I have chosen to include in this story. This is set in the middle of season 1 while Quinn is in the later stages of her pregnancy and Will has just discovered Terri's deception. I give a brief "Previously on _Glee…_" outline to show what has happened and there are some elements I have opted to omit from this scenario so unless I have specified the important ones, they are not part of the AU I am creating here. Finally, all that has to be said is that I hope you enjoy this as I have only just started watching the show but am a few episodes into season 2 at the moment and are moved to read it, even though it is rather dark. It is my forte: making happy and gleeful shows take a dark and morbid twist so if that's your thing, do take a look through my other stories and read at your leisure!

Happy reading,

DaenerysTargary3n!

* * *

_Previously on Glee: Quinn is pregnant and staying with Mercedes and everyone thought the father was Finn but it turns out that it's actually Puck. Will thought his wife was pregnant but really Mrs Schue was just faking it and they're divorced now and he tried it out with Miss Pillsbury but she's now dating some dentist guy so that's over. Tina and Artie are in a rough place after he thought he might be able to walk at some point in his life but they'll probably get through it. Finn, Rachel and Puck are still doing their love triangle thing but she still can't make her mind up and is still annoying everyone else in the club. Finally, Coach Sylvester is still trying to get Santana and Brittany, who are secretly hooked up with each other, to screw with the club's push to place at Regionals and that's just about it in Glee!_

Terrific fiend! Thou Monster fell,  
Condemn'd in haunts profane to dwell,  
Why quit thy solitary Home,  
O'er wide Creation's paths to roam?  
Pale Tyrant of the timid Heart,  
Whose visionary spells can bind  
The strongest passions of the mind,  
Freezing Life's current with thy baneful Art. ~ _Ode to Despair _(M. Darby Robinson)

Will once more was sleeping in his office as he couldn't stand to be in his house one his own now that Terri had moved all of her crap out of the place. It had felt refreshing and rejuvenating to redecorate the place with his stuff, making it more of the bachelor pad it now was, but after a few days all he really saw when he was there was a three bedroom house with one divorced man occupying the master suite. He had taken to using a sleeping bag to crash in his office and he paid off the janitor to not tattle on him to Figgins, so nobody knew that Will's new office that abutted the choir room by day was a thriving office but by night was a depressing home of a newly single man.

That was how he found himself at about eleven o'clock on this Wednesday night, tucking himself into his quaint sleeping bag on his cold office floor when he became aware of noises coming from next door. It sounded like one person who had for some reason interloped into his club room and had just pulled out the piano stool. He couldn't see any reason to stir for the time being as the intruder seemed to only want to play the instrument and not steal it, so all the Spanish teacher did was listen quietly as the keys moved in the other room and a beautiful, ethereal melody swam through the night air into his ears.

It was when the vocal line entered that the identity of the person next door became apparent. He prided himself on knowing intimately and well the voices of all the kids in his club and the girls' voices in particular were easy to identify. Rachel's was stellar and stood out in any ensemble, Mercedes possessed an earthy and booming gospel voice, Santana's was like a cross between Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, Brittany sounded like a more nasal Kristin Chenoweth and Tina's voice was the punchiest and made him think of what Hayley Williams might sound like if she took to singing show tunes.

Clumsily and tiredly, he rose and glimpsed the piano through his shuttered window at the hunched over figure sat before the instrument. The room was dimly lit and he could barely make her out, but he was perplexed as to why Quinn Fabray would be roaming school halls so late at night and alone while pregnant and find her way to the glee club's piano. The song she had chosen confused him as well, for instead of the poppy and gutsy female ballads she adored, now she was performing (not only singing, performing!) a heartfelt and gripping Barbra Streisand style ballad that appeared to be self-composed. The lyrics were certainly penned by Quinn; they were so _her_ it was unmistakable.

_They used to call you queen of the jungle,_

_You used to be that strong._

_But then the lion took you _

_And now everything has gone wrong._

_You've got such a heavy load to bear_

_And no one's there to carry you._

_The queen has become the slave_

_Of the entire jungle crew._

Will Schuester found himself crying as she went from the chorus into a wistful yet raging piano solo and he knew he had the tendency to cry a lot but there was something so honest and pitiful about this fallen girl before him who had so much talent and beauty that spiked his gentle heart into overdrive.

He quietly crept through his door into the open room not wishing to disturb her song or startle her with any loud noises. He noticed in closer proximity that she had her eyes firmly squeezed shut she was so engrossed in her composition and her body jerked and gyrated with fluidity as she felt the nuances and accents in her song. Despite being about seven months along, her body still had all the grace and musicality of the cheerleader captain that she had been and longed to be once more. It was awe-inspiring and he felt a sudden pang of sorrow that she felt she could not be this way more openly and in front of the glee club.

As the chorus recurred, he joined in and sung a low baritone harmony to match her soprano melody line. He half expected her to react and stop playing and singing, but as always, Quinn Fabray surprised him and merely opened her eyes to see who else was in the glee room that night and was singing in tandem with her. She smiled at Will radiantly and merely nodded in greeting while continuing to sing.

Once the song drew to a close, she stood awkwardly and asked, "What are you doing here, Mr. Schue? It's a little late to be in school."

He laughed easily, "Right back at you," he retorted, "and I don't sleep at home any more. It's weird just being there by myself…there are too many rooms."

Quinn looked down at her hands folded around her swollen belly and replied _sotto voce_, "I'm sorry."

"What do you have to be sorry for?"

With a morose tilt of her head, showing him the glint forming in her eyes as the tears formed, "I know that you know Mrs Schuester was lying about being pregnant but I don't know if you know…"

"Quinn, I know she was going to use your baby," he interrupted, "I guessed it when she didn't say anything when I asked her what she planned to do when the baby was supposed to arrive, plus I recall a certain hug that came from nowhere."

It stunned her that even while he was undergoing so much pain and experiencing such adversity, he managed to be happy (or at least come across as happy) in this room. She didn't feel guilty about that much in her life, but it killed her that she had almost been a part of this man's sorrow.

Will noticed her quieten and retreat but he had more to talk to her about, "Can I ask you something…something I probably have no business asking you, Quinn?"

"Sure."

"I know why you want to give your daughter up for adoption but what did Terri say or do that made you want her to be the mother of your child?"

The tears started falling at this point but she wiped them off her face. They seemed to weigh her down so she sat again and replied, "She asked me if I thought you'd be a good dad, Mr. Schue and she told me about all this prenatal stuff that I had no idea about."

"Ah, she scared you. That makes sense because I couldn't work out just what would make you get involved in such a horrible – not to mention hurtful – plot. I thought you were one of my kids, Quinn."

As he spoke to her, her cries grew louder and the tears flowed freer and Will was tempted to embrace her but he had to know just what had gone through the young girl's head during that decision process.

"I'm _so_, so sorry, Mr. Schue. It was the worst decision I've ever made and I'm sixteen and pregnant so that's saying something. I love the glee club and being part of it. The others and you have been so nice and great to me ever since I got pregnant and I am so sorry for what I've done. I love being one of _your _kids."

He sighed, realising that she had suffered more than her due and he was a jerk for dragging out her pain. He walked over to her and gently pushed her along the piano stool making room for him to sit beside her and he put his arm around her and just held her while she cried.

"That was a gorgeous song, Quinn. Why didn't you ever tell me you could play and write like that?" He asked after a few minutes.

She shrugged, "I guess I didn't know I could until I had something to sing about. I was in the auditorium a couple of days ago and it just came to me. The playing is thanks to endless piano lessons at church. I can pretty much play the entire hymnal."

"Well, we'll have to get you singing and playing in glee club then. No reason Finn and Puck should be the only ones who play their instruments. We might even be able to pull off _All That Jazz _and you can be the cool pianist guy."

"I can't play in front of the club," she confessed meekly, "this is just for me."

"I've heard you play and sing, though. Doesn't that make it easier?" Will countered, not wanting her to retreat into the shell she had built for herself since she discovered she was pregnant.

"No. You're Mr. Schue. I can do anything in front of you because you believe in me and in everyone else, but the others are just waiting for me to fall on my face and I am not ready to open myself up to them."

He smiled at her, "Well, thanks for the compliment…I think, but what makes you think everyone in glee is waiting for you to fail? They've shown their support for you and they think you're their friend. Genuinely."

"Please. Don't try to convince me that Rachel and Mercedes and Santana and Brittany and all the others like me because it is not true. They were only nice to me when they thought it was Finn's baby and he was the first cool kid to be nice to them so they did what they did, but it wasn't for me. It was for him."

While he pondered her words and attempted to come up with an apt response, she started tinkling on the ivories and played a few lines of the hymn _Abide with Me_. Once she got to the end of one verse, she did not continue but instead pulled herself out of his steadying embrace and looked him directly in the eye.

"Do you miss your wife?"

The question did take him by surprise but he answered it nevertheless, "No, I don't miss Terri but I do miss the company and constant presence of someone. I spend all day here and you guys are so lively and so great but then I go home and it's just me and I can't stand my own company. I guess I have problems with being alone. Something we seem to share, Miss Fabray."

Quinn looked down at her engorged stomach and ran her manicured hand along its stretched skin, "I used to hate being alone but now I just want to be on my own in my own skin, just me."

"Not long to go though. Only a couple of months."

She shook of the subject, although Will could see that she was only doing so externally but let it go and turned to face him, "Mr. Schue, I know I'm the last person who has a right to ask you for anything but ever since I've been staying at Mercedes' place, I really miss the quiet of my own space and I was wondering if it would be okay if I came to play and sing here some nights. I wouldn't disturb you if you were here and it's not like I would expect you to come out and talk to me. It's just Mercedes and Kurt and her mom are _so _loud!"

He laughed, understanding fully how living with big personalities could be exhausting and frustrating. Terri had not been a walk in the park whatsoever, "Course you can, Quinn but I can't give you free run over the entire school after hours so just in the choir room, then if anything happens, I'll more than likely be here."

She hugged him again, thanking God for putting a man like Will Schuester into Lima, Ohio, "Thanks, Mr. Schue. I promise I'll only use the glee room and you won't even know I'm about."

"Quinn, stop wishing people to find you invisible. You're not invisible and before you say so, it's not just because of the baby. You are a talented, unique and valuable member of the glee club and just because life seems pants now doesn't mean it always will."

The mother-to-be was accustomed to feeling her unborn child kick in her stomach but except for her own, she had never noticed anyone else's voice stimulate a kicking flurry in her abdomen. However, that was exactly what happened now as Mr. Schuester spoke to her in his certain and calming tone of her positive characteristics. It made her weeping recommence and she did not know how to explain why to her companion except for taking his hand in hers and placing it on her belly where the child's kicks were aimed.

"Wow! That's…" he mumbled, truly lost for words as he had been when he saw the sonogram of this same baby, although at the time he mistook its identity and parentage, "that's, that's a strong kick, Quinn. Got a girl who'll play football or do gymnastics in there for sure. You know I've seen what your daughter looks like?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, Terri used your video for her 'appointment' and the sight of it – of _her _– made me cry."

"That's sweet. She really would have been lucky…" Quinn whispered.

He patted her soothingly on the spot where the baby kicked before replacing his hand, "Thanks for saying so. I would have been luckier to have been her father. Anyway, we've got a big day tomorrow and there's only so much heartfelt conversation I can give or take for one day, so why don't I take you home and I'll see you tomorrow at practice."

"Sure, thanks Mr. Schue. You're the best."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

I would just like to warn readers that this is where the M rating kicks in, so if you are easily affected by M-rated kinds of things, maybe don't eat before reading this. That does imply that this will be great writing and I won't know if it is unless I get some reviews, so please do write me some, pretty please! I'll even reply and be super, super grateful.

DaenerysTargary3n!

* * *

_A week later…_

I shed my tears; my tears – my consolation;  
And I am silent; my murmur is dead,  
My soul, sunk in a depression's shade,  
Hides in its depths the bitter exultation.  
I don't deplore my passing dream of life -  
Vanish in dark, the empty apparition!  
I care only for my love's infliction,  
And let me die, but only die in love! ~ _The Wish _(A. Pushkin)

Emma in all her wisdom had helped her friend see that living out of his office was not healthy or appropriate especially when he told her that occasionally Quinn Fabray would stop by to use the piano in the choir room. He knew she was right when she had given him the 'move back home' speech two days ago and he had spent the previous night moving all his sleeping items back into his empty apartment.

On the other hand, Quinn had not made any progress. She persisted in coming to the choir room during the midnight hours and sometimes she saw Mr. Schue, other times she was left to play and sing in blissful solitude. Tonight was one of the latter nights.

She was working on a new song that was about friendship and support and loneliness. As she had pieced the music and the lyrics together bit by bit, she had Will Schuester going through her mind and everything they had talked about over the past week during their intimate little tête-à- têtes. She had come to view him as a close friend since he gave her permission to be in school after night fell and she thought he probably saw her in the same light.

_When the light goes down and the world turns blue_

_I know I'm lost but then I find you._

Just as she wrote the lyrics down, she heard the door swing ajar at her back and a man's footsteps step across the threshold and grow louder as their owner drew closer to her in her place at the piano. She was about to turn around (her belly made it difficult to do so swiftly) to greet Mr. Schue when a hand clamped down over her mouth and nose.

She grunted and groaned as her assailant thrust her off the piano stool and plunged her to the hard floor, a motion she was certain would leave an unsightly bruise on her ass. Initially, she deemed the man above her a mugger just out for her purse and her cell but as he noticed her affairs atop the instrument and subsequently shoved them into his jacket pocket, he did not depart, he just leered at her and crouched so that his face was inches from hers on the floor.

"What do you want?" She garbled out, fear taking hold of her every nerve and sinew.

"I want what _you _want, baby, and you know you want this," he crooned scarily, placing his hands on both her hips.

She understood what was about to happen and looked down suggestively at her swollen stomach, hoping…praying that he would see her condition and just leave her.

He did notice, but once he did Quinn fervently wished she had never drawn attention to her childbearing belly. He whispered, "Well, in the family way, are you? That'll make this all the more enjoyable then, love, for both of us. I hear women get frightful horny when they're knapped. Don't worry nothing, baby, I'll scratch that itch for you."

"Oh my God." Quinn knew she was speaking blasphemously but in that gripping moment of abject fear and vulnerability, no other words came to her.

It was then that she became aware of the stink of gin on the man's breath as he forced himself to lay down upon her with all his weight. As he bore down on her, she exclaimed loudly in pain feeling her abdomen press down on the floor: baby, organs and all.

"Hush now, don't make a sound. We need to be quiet, baby or the kids'll hear us fucking and if we don't, well, you know what the punishment will be." He slurred over her collarbone.

Now that he was apparently satisfied with his threats, he began to sloppily plant wet disgusting kisses along her shoulder and neck and face while his hands darted downwards. She tried to resist as he put his meaty hands under her skirt and violently ripped off her panties, just discarding them, but when he bit down _hard _on her breast drawing blood, she cried out and decided her best option and her child's best chance lay in her simply taking it.

Once her t-shirt, skirt and panties were strewn about the room, leaving her clad only in her maternity bra, her attacker began to shove away his own pants. When she caught sight of his manhood, she gulped and shuddered at the girth of the thing. She knew from Santana that usually a man's size could be pleasurable to his partner but she took that to mean his _willing _partner who would be given time to adjust. It was apparent that the man standing in all his glory before her was not the kind of man to extend womankind that courtesy. She braced herself for the pain.

"Up you come, baby. Don't want you to be uncomfortable now."

Instinctively she scoffed at his remark and was rewarded with a hard punch across her face that made her nose crack and her teeth shatter. Before she managed to spit the blood pooling in her broken mouth, she was hauled up by her aggressor and shoved against the piano stool so that her upper torso lay across the cushioned top while her belly was tightly pressed into its pointed side and her legs were forced open. She heard his inhalation as he prepared himself to enter her and she was surprisingly grateful for that small mercy in spite of everything for it allowed her the time to brace herself against the stool for the impending onslaught and wrap one arm around her belly, just willing her daughter within to stay there and to shield her stomach from jutting too harshly into the wooden rim of the piano stool.

The scream that erupted from her battered lips when she experienced his dry and large shaft shoving into her body could have woken the dead and he kneed her in the back to shut her up. Before she had time to brace herself for another thrust, it had already been made. The only hope for Quinn at this time was that he was so drunk out of his mind that it wouldn't be long before he was spent.

"Oh God!" She sighed unwillingly, but the visceral response instead of bringing her joy or satisfaction made her ashamed and self-loathing.

"Yeah, you like that? Bobby knows you like that. Have some more. I'll keep going. No one can say I'm a bad lay, see? I'm waiting."

She didn't know what else to say to the inebriated man who was breaking her from the inside outwards except, "Please, just cum…Bobby," his name broke as she said it, "I need you to. I love it when you cum inside me."

With that small incentive, she felt his warm seed spew into her and thanked God for Puck of all people for making it so that there was no chance of her rapist's seed taking hold in her body. Thank God indeed for small blessings.

She felt sore but no more so than when she had lost her virginity but as she sank to the floor and noticed the blood that had pooled beneath the piano and its stool, the presence of adrenaline abated and the scratches and welts on her legs and ass and belly, all of which were leaking red blood onto the floor, registered. She attempted to quash the shriek before it left her tongue, but to no avail. Her noise resulted in a final bout of punches all over her body, though she did manage to shield her belly from the force of her attacker's onslaught, but in doing so she was sure multiple fingers on both hands were broken, possibly even her wrist.

He didn't say anything after that, possibly because she had sunk to the floor and just curled up on the floor shaking from the shock that had overwhelmed her nervous system. He most likely thought she was dead and was just leaving her to die alone like a dog, though she couldn't imagine treating even the most savage and vindictive of dogs with such cruelty.

Once Quinn registered that he was no longer in the same room as her, she looked around from her bath in red lifeblood for her clothes and anything that might help her get some help. When she saw one item's silhouette interrupting the pale glow of the choir room floor, she rejoiced as much as she could because her cell must have fallen from his pocket during his violation of her body.

She slowly reached for the device with a quivering arm and once she gripped it as hard as she could she chose the contact she wanted and waited for the dial tone to end and his voice to take the call.

"Hi, Quinn."

She breathed shallowly probably due to a few broken ribs, "Schue."

He heard the unsteadiness of her voice and looking at his signal meter, he saw he had five bars so it couldn't be the fault of poor reception, "Quinn, are you okay?"

"Need you. Choir room. Hurry."

With that, Will just leapt off his couch and flew out his front door, not taking the time to lock it and shoved himself into his battered old car. He was at the high school in a matter of minutes, thanking the Lord that traffic at close to midnight was non-existent in Lima. When he parked in the middle of the parking lot and sprinted down the silent, empty corridors, the dread that took root in the pit of his stomach grew and he was genuinely terrified of what he would find in the room that was more or less his home. She had sounded so hurt and scared on the phone and Quinn Fabray very rarely was either.

He noticed the lights were turned off so he called for her, "Quinn, you there?"

"Mr. Schue?" He heard her respond faintly.

It was then that he switched on the lights and gasped at the horrific scene that greeted him. There was blood spattered across the floor surrounding the piano and he noticed but did not know how to react to the sight of some of her clothes flung from the rows of seats to the area by his office. Lastly, he rested his eyes on the foetal positioned member of his glee club lying in the largest pool of blood almost under the piano.

"Quinn?! Oh God, what happened? Fucking hell!" He realised he shouldn't have cursed in front of her but the state she was in was the most gruelling sight he would ever see in his life.

He didn't know whether to try and pick her up and check that her child, he nearly swallowed his tongue thinking about the babe in her bruised stomach, was still living or to call an ambulance.

"I'm going to call an ambulance," he announced reaching for her cellphone as he had recklessly chucked his on the floor of his apartment, "it'll be okay and I'll find something to cover you up, sweetheart."

He was surprised that the endearment had fallen so easily from his lips but he figured she had most likely endured such an arduous attack that a little TLC would not hurt any.

"No," she whispered, her voice cracked, "please just take me yourself. Drive me in my car. Please, Mr. Schue, just help me."

"Alright. Can you stand?"

She didn't answer she only extended her purple hand and after he took it and lent her all of his strength, she shakily rose to her feet only for her knees to give way.

Will pre-empted her collapse and was ready to swing her up carefully into his arms so he could just carry her away from the choir room which looked like a page out of a Stephen King novel.

"Please don't leave." She demanded weakly.

He hushed her quietly, "I'm not going anywhere, Quinn. Don't worry, you're not alone now…you're not alone."

It was a silent and tense ride to the hospital. Will concentrated on the road and Quinn concentrated on Will. She kept both arms folded firmly about her midriff as if trying to hold her baby in. Will's gaze occasionally resting on her and her belly was plain to her and he did not care to mask his concern for her and it comforted her deeply to know that he was keeping a vigil over her and her unborn child as he drove.

Getting through admissions was easy. He tried to do as much work as he could, leaving Quinn with the task of just caring for herself while he dealt with nurses and paperwork. When the ward sister brought up a rape kit to which Quinn had to be subjected, he said he wanted to go in to her first in her trauma room where she was being examined. As she lay on the hospital bed, the harsh white light illuminating all her visible injuries making him wince, he wondered how she had survived. It dawned on him just how much of what had occurred earlier was his fault. He had promised that he would be there if anything happened, which was presumably why she had called him, but he would not fail her now. He would be by her side until the Devil's claws tore him away.

"For Christ's sake, Schuester, the kid has no parents!" He cursed inwardly at himself watching while Quinn disintegrated under the doctors' hands.

Will pulled the man who seemed to be the superior aside and mentioned to him that this was a rape case and the victim was seven months pregnant (a fact he realised they would already be aware of), so maybe he could sit near her head and talk to her as she was evidently distressed in the company of so many male strangers.

"And you are, sir?"

The glee club coach was suddenly flustered, not knowing what to say.

"He's my teacher. I called him and he drove me here. My parents and I are estranged and I have no idea how to contact them. They have literally changed everything about themselves and I suspect they are in England living with my sister, who doesn't speak to me either." Quinn interrupted, wanting to speak for herself and be heard.

The formerly tongue-tied Spanish teacher took up the tale of his student's woes, "She lives with another pupil of mine and her mother, but that clearly isn't working and I wondered if she might come and stay with me. I don't mind filling out any paperwork or seeing whomever I need to."

Both Quinn and the ER doctor's jaws dropped, the former's hurting a lot more than the latter's resulting in a pained squeal from Quinn.

"Are you alright?" Will asked immediately, darting to her side and placing one hand gently on her bloodied blonde hair.

She nodded looking down, but managed to ask, "Are you sure you wanna take me on? Especially after listening to me shaft Mercedes and her mom for hours on end?"

"Quinn, I already feel _so _responsible for what happened tonight and it was _so _bad. Please – if you feel comfortable that is – let me be responsible for getting you well and back to yourself again. Please, Quinn."

The ER doctor watched the two talk and saw the familiarity between them. He was trained to look for illegal and abusive relationships but despite the physical interaction they were sharing, he didn't get the vibe that there was anything below board in their relationship. As the teacher stroked the hair and held the hand of the broken pregnant girl lying on his table, the ER doctor just coming to the end of the shift wondered if he wouldn't put in a good word with social services to rush through the paperwork for a temporary fostering arrangement for Miss Fabray and her Spanish teacher, whom she clearly trusted and after what she had just survived, that was something valuable.

"Alright, Mr. Schue, but I don't blame you for any of this. I've always trusted you and right now I'm not sure what I'm worth but I trust you with me." She assented.

Will looked round at the doctor still examining them, "So, what do I need to do to get this show on the road?"

"I'll go and get someone from social down here while we do her rape kit. You don't want to be around for that. I'll have an intern come and fetch you when we're all done and then you can stay for as long as you like."

"Much appreciated, mate." Will responded with the first genuine smile of the night.

It took about an hour for both to get their initial work up and round of forms done but when Will walked into Room 3139 he saw a cleaned up and gowned Quinn asleep in her hospital bed. She still had brutal scars and bruises from her ordeal but there was that faraway glint of the Quinn Fabray that she used to be before her pregnancy and her attack which he would be damned if he let slip away.

Although he endeavoured to be as silent as the grave as he walked in and slipped into an armchair beside her, his movements roused the sleeping girl. First of all she looked as though she would scream bloody murder but when she recognised Will's familiar and smiling face, she self-soothed.

"How are you?" Will inquired hesitantly, fearing the answer.

"As well as can be expected, or so I'm told." She rattled off.

He didn't really want to ask but he just had to, "And the baby?"

Quinn nearly smiled at his concern for her baby, the baby that had nearly been his own daughter. She rested her plastered hands on her bruised abdomen and replied, "She's fine. Amazing…isn't it?"

Before he knew what he was doing or why he did it, he breathed out a sigh of relief and murmured, "Hell yeah, Quinn. You look much better. Would it be okay if I just sat in this chair? You can go back to sleep or whatever, but I would like to be here with you, if you don't mind the company? Don't worry about saying no if you want to be alone, I don't mind sleeping in my car."

"I can't be scared of you, Mr. Schue, even if I wanted to be, which I don't," she extended her hand as best she could, "and if we're going to be roommates, I want to be your friend because you're certainly mine."

"Oh, Quinn," he sighed, sitting and grasping her hand in its bulky cast, "I've filled in all the paperwork. You can come home in a couple of days but I'll take some time off and I'll kick back here with you and we can hang out."

"Sounds like a plan, roomy." She replied almost grinning that glowing smile she used to grace him with before all the shit hit her proverbial fan.

"And by the way," he added, "you might as well call me Will when it's just the two of us."

"Alright…Will, thanks.


	3. Chapter 3

_The next day…_

'Tis a poor humble dwelling; yet within,  
The sweets of joy domestic, oft have made  
The long hour not unchearly, while the Moor  
Was covered with deep snow, and the bleak blast  
Swept with impetuous wing the mountain's brow!  
On ev'ry tree of the near shelt'ring wood  
The minstrelsy of Nature, shrill and wild,  
Welcomes the stranger guest, and carolling  
Love-songs, spontaneous, greets him merrily.

~ _The Widow's Home _(M. Darby Robinson)

When Principal Figgins had come into work he had expected an easy and light workload. What he did not see coming was the multitude of message on his phone from the previous night and earlier in the morning informing him and keeping him apprised of Quinn Fabray's situation including the manner of her attack. He texted Schue to say that he could take a few days leave but he had to come in for a meeting to discuss what had befallen the girl this morning.

Even before he set foot in his office, Figgins observed that Sue and Emma had beaten him to the chase. He cursed that gossip spread so quickly in this little town. He would have liked to gather his thoughts before going head to head with Schue and the other faculty members but evidently he was not going to win anything today.

"Sue, Emma," he greeted, "good morning."

"No, it's not. Have you heard about Quinn Fabray yet? What's the story? What I get on WOHN is that William took her to the ER last night and she looked like a war victim!" Sue Sylvester bellowed as she stormed round his small office.

"Can we just wait until Schue gets here? I don't know the entire story and it appears that only he and Miss Fabray do, so instead of shouting at me, Sue, just sit down and have some coffee and wait for it."

Emma nodded, choosing to keep her own counsel until it was needed and she knew what to make of the developments. She couldn't sit down on Figgins' furniture though. She hadn't brought her disinfecting kit and she turned her nose up at the idea of germs coming into contact with her person through the inadequately cleaned fabric of the principal's couch.

When Will Schuester fell through the door without knocking, dressed only in sweatpants and a hoodie with flip flops on his feet, then shoved Sue off the couch and lay down flat atop it, the three of them were speechless. The man looked haunted and as though he bore the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"Will?" Figgins asked timidly, not wanting the Spanish teacher to fall asleep in front him, which looked like a definite possibility. God, the man looked done in.

Even Coach Sylvester who very rarely had a sympathetic sinew in her entire body felt her heart twinge in sympathy for her nemesis. She knew that William Schuester cared deeply for his students and whilst she thought that his touchy feely approach was never what was called for, she had to admit that he really came through when a student required his help.

"How's Quinn?" Emma finally asked, wanting to break the intolerable silence that had washed over the room and its occupants.

Will looked up at his friend with bleary red eyes that had been washed and rewashed over the past few hours with floods of salt water and muttered, "It's bad. She's very bad, though she and the baby are fine on the outside, she's still in a bad way. The whole thing is just…_bad_."

Usually the man was so eloquent and upbeat but as well as Quinn apparently being bad, no one had any doubt that Will Schuester was in a bad way also.

"Schue, Diane has fielded a lot of phone calls from you, from the school board, from the hospital, from social services since she got in this morning, but I don't really have the full picture. _You _need to give me the full picture so we can decided what to do about all this."

Suddenly, Will sat bolt upright and yelled with no qualms, "So _we _can decide?! So _we _can decide?! You three think that we in this small and insignificant little room are going to decide anything now relating to Quinn?! Don't be so naïve! She has just been through hell and thankfully she's come out the other side, but that doesn't mean she won't have the memories of it for the rest of her life. I know I will and I'm just the one who found her drenched in a pool of her own blood! What has been decided by _her _because she is the only one she trusts at the moment except for me and that is still something I'm trying with all my might to wrap my head around. So – with all due respect – butt the hell out!"

Emma rose and went to sit beside her closest friend, unable to cope with being across the room from him while he was a wreck and taking his hand, she gently said, "Will, just tell us, please. It'll be better if you talk about it and I'm sorry but we do need to know the facts. _Nobody _is talking about taking any more away from Quinn and we get that you're just trying to protect her, but we're not the bad guys here, Will. We're just trying to help her – and you – as best as we know how, so please just let us. Okay?"

He nodded before beginning his tale, "She was in the glee room – not that we're ever going to be able to call it that again – and someone just came in and beat the crap out of her and, and…"

He hadn't even got to the real beginning of the story when he began to stumble and stutter over the words.

"Raped her?" Emma asked quietly.

All he could do was slightly bob his head in assent but once that detail had sunk in, he continued, "She said he tried to take her stuff but her cell must have fallen out of his pocket in the…process and she called me. I hightailed it over here and I took her to the ER. While we were there and she was being admitted and examined, it was clear that she needs a better support system. No offence to Mercedes and her mom, but they don't look after her properly. Mercedes goes off with Kurt and her mom is content to provide Quinn with a family home without being her family. Quinn is either dealing with all the racket of a family she doesn't fit into, which is why she took refuge in the choir room, or by herself. Terri's gone and I have an entire place to myself. She knows me, she trusts me and she readily agreed to stay with me and we've filled out all the necessary paperwork and social services are happy with the arrangement, so I don't really get why I'm dredging all this crap up _again_!"

"Will, you cannot be serious about inviting Quinn to live with you! It's just not the right thing to do. Maybe she can come stay with me instead."

That was a development that no one expected, least of all Will. Usually, he could depend on Emma Pillsbury to be on Team Schue when it came to squaring off with Figgins and Coach Sylvester but if she was against him especially in this fight, he didn't stand a chance.

"Elmo, if Quinn stays with you she'll slit her goddamn wrists," Sue declared, "and I hate to say this – all of you know that – but you and Figgins here are either deranged or just plain stupid if you think that Quinn belongs anywhere but at William's here."

"Huh?" Schuester grunted, truly taken aback by this sudden and unexpected olive branch from the deplorable Cheerios coach.

"Look, I don't like you, but I'm not as dim as these two nut jobs. If Quinn has chosen to stay at Will's under his guardianship then we should let her. She's just had all her power and self-respect stripped from her, so we should support her in her decisions and it's not like she'll be in danger at Schuester's. God knows the place is probably so quirky, she'll want to recover faster just to get away from the creep."

She winked at Will, confirming that she was just teasing him and trying to lighten the mood with her last dig, but he could forgive her that just for taking up arms with him. For what Sue Sylvester wanted to happen generally did, with the exception of the glee club's demise.

"She may not be a Cheerio anymore," Sue carried on, determined to get her point home and to coerce Emma and Figgins into backing down, "but she was the captain of the squad and as such, she's still one of my girls. Even though she's a huge disappointment where cheerleading is concerned as her new centre of gravity is shared with that of a Jersey cow, she's a great kid."

"But…" Emma attempted to get a word in.

"Enough, Emma," Will retorted sharply with unfamiliar venom in his eyes, "just let it be, please."

He reached for the principal's microphone and pressed the button that connected it directly to the PA system that broadcasted over the entire school.

"This is Mr. Schuester," he spoke clearly, "could all members of the glee club go immediately to the choir room. This is not a request. All members of staff must acquiesce."

Without speaking another word to the other three adults in the office, Will flew out of the principal's office and headed off to the choir room, which he hoped had been cleaned…thoroughly! When he reached his destination he was relieved to see the blood and strewn clothing had been eradicated. That would spare the kids some, thankfully.

He would have normally dragged the piano stool out and sat facing the pews to speak to the entire club, but after Quinn had told him how she had been propped up against it and taken, he loathed that bit of furniture. He settled for the drum stool instead and distracted himself with twirling on its revolving head while he awaited his kids' arrival.

It took a few minutes but eventually every one of his kids (with the obvious exception) was sat before him, nervously waiting for him to expand on why they had been pulled out of their classes and ordered to the choir room.

"What's up, Mr. Schue?" Finn asked, unnerved by the glee club leader's dour expression.

"Before I tell you all why you're all here, I just need to say that everything is fine and sorted now." He stated calmly.

"You're scaring us. Just tell us what it is."

He took a deep breath as he prepared himself for the harrowing tale he was about to impart, "It's about Quinn. She was attacked last night…here. Before you start haranguing me or rushing all over Lima, she's stable and okay now. However, it was violent and…_sexual_. She is still extremely traumatised by it all and that is unlikely to change in the near future. In the light of things, I am going to be taking a couple of days off and I won't be here to run practice for a week or so and furthermore, Quinn is no longer going to be staying with Mercedes. She is coming to live with me."

"What?!" Puck exploded, his rage and fear growing with every word Mr. Schue had spoken but erupting at his announcement that the girl carrying his child would be going to stay with their teacher.

"_She _has decided that she wants to live at my place. That's all I needed to hear, really. It's all squared away with the school and with social services and her parents remain out of contact."

Puck stood up and walked right down to where the teacher sat, "She should be staying with me! It was my child and its mother who got attacked after all!"

Will groaned, in that moment internally decrying adolescent hormones, "Puck, she has just had every ounce of self-respect and power torn away from her. She called me to take her to the hospital after it happened, she told me she doesn't trust anyone else – and I'm not just saying that to blow my own trumpet – so as far as I'm concerned, Quinn herself needs to be the one who determines what she does next. Or are you going to take all that she has left from her?"

Puck felt such guilt at Mr. Schue's words that he just shook his head in defeat and retreated to his spot at the back of the benches. It was true what he said about the father-to-be. Despite the fact that he tried to make it work with Quinn as both a boyfriend and sire of her unborn child, he had failed like the Lima-loser he tried not to be.

"Now, what I propose is that you _all _come over to mine on Saturday night. I'll order some pizza or something. I don't want her to think she's going through this alone. She still thinks deep down that she's not a part of the glee club and it's up to all of us to make her realise that she is the _heart _of the thing."

Finn nodded in agreement, "You're right, Mr. Schue. We'll all be there."

"I do have to ask her first, so when I see her later I'll ask her about it and if she's up to it, I'll email round the details. Sound good?"

Mercedes, who had looked like she was about to pass out (probably from a mixture of shame and concern that had been building up while Will spoke), finally spoke up, "Can we go and see her at the hospital?"

Mr. Schuester had been afraid someone would ask that question, "I don't think so, Mercedes and everyone. She's still very shaky and it's too soon for her to see people particularly in a foreign environment. So, I ask for her sake, that you just wait to see her until Saturday night, when she's in less sterile surroundings."

Everyone seemed to understand his point of view and find his terms acceptable so when he dismissed them all with notes for their teachers, there were thankfully no irate and belligerent students wanting to have it out with him. He did eye Puck warily, for if any of his glee kids might have wanted to see Quinn before the time was right, it would have been the father of her baby, but as the teenager walked out of the room he just looked blank and spoke not a word.

"That was well done." Came Emma's lyrical voice from nowhere.

Will spun around on his heels and observed the guidance counsellor leaning against the piano behind him and wondered how long she had been standing there listening to him update Quinn's friends.

"Emma, just answer me this," he asked in a pained voice, "why aren't you on my side in this?"

"Oh, Will, I am on your side. That's why I don't think it's a good idea for Quinn to live with you. She's just so close to all that baby drama with Terri and she's in such a vulnerable state, as are you, I might add. I just think the whole thing will lead to you both getting more hurt than you should be in your futures."

He scoffed at her, "That's the biggest amount of crap I've ever heard. If you're implying that I would seek any kind of retribution against Quinn were she in the state she's in or not, then you never knew me at all and I never knew you! As far as you caring for my future goes, why don't you just let _me _worry for mine and Quinn's futures?"

She looked as hurt by the unpleasant venom in his voice as he spat his insults at her but she knew he was just strung out and would apologise for it when he had calmed down and she would instantly forgive him, but for right now, all she could do was vehemently reply, "Very well, Will. I'll do just that but please just be careful…both of you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**

Sorry the update has taken so long, I've had a 5000 word paper to do on the trial narratives in The Bible (snore!) but I've got an extension and I need a break from John, Luke and Mark so I'm back to this story. Please do review it, as I do so appreciate the time you guys take to favourite/follow/review my work.

DaenerysTargary3n

* * *

_Later that day…_

The female that loves unrequited sleeps,  
And the male that loves unrequited sleeps,  
The head of the money-maker that plotted all day sleeps,  
And the enraged and treacherous dispositions—all, all sleep.

~ _The Sleepers _(W. Whitman)

Will had cleared his paid leave with Figgins and then had rushed to the mall as fast as his bucket of bolts would get him there in one piece. He felt good that Quinn was coming to stay with him but the guest room at his place could use a little sprucing up and 'Quinnification'. He smiled as he thought of what the former cheerleading captain might like in her bedroom. In spite of the circumstances that caused her uprooting, he was excited to do something for his house that did not involve bending to Terri's will or ridiculous fads and if it made Quinn feel as good as he felt in its contemplation, then he'd be over the moon about giving her some small feeling of respite from all the pain the world had heaped on her shoulders.

As he stalked the aisles of the department store searching for the perfect duvet set for what would be Quinn's bed, Will began to notice that a lot of the store clerks and female clientele were sending him odd glances. It was only when he pivoted on the spot searching for some stain or blemish on his person that would lead to such bizarre reactions to him looking for bed linens in a perfectly normal store.

"Hey," a girl who was probably in her early twenties said coyly as she approached him, "can I help you?"

It did not escape Will's notice that the woman before him was not wearing a uniform or nametag, so he inquired, "Yeah, that would be great."

"What are you searching for?"

He smiled, "I need a duvet set for a teenage girl, the daughter of a friend of mine is coming to stay at my house for quite some time while…she sorts some stuff out and my guest room can only be described as fifty shades of beige and I want it to feel more like home for her."

The girl before him looked as though all her Christmases had come at once when he described his place and asked with an obscene leer in her eye, "So, how come your wife isn't shopping for your friend's daughter? How'd you draw the short straw?"

Will saw her eyes dart down to his left hand where on his ring finger the silver band still sat. He kicked himself internally for not removing it earlier, but he had donned the ring out of habit after showering for so many years that the habit was evidently going to take some effort to break. He made a subsequent mental note to put it away and not just leave it on his bathroom cupboard.

"Oh," he said pithily, "I'm not married. Divorced, actually. Anyway, what do you think about these ones?"

"They're fine, a bit pink maybe though, don't you think?"

The selection he had taken from the shelves were both pink and he didn't know why but somehow he still saw Quinn as a little girl who was into pink this, pink that and pink everything, yet he was wrong. She wasn't that person anymore (if she ever was), she was more mature than that and she would probably appreciate something less…perky.

"You're right," Will admitted, "in fact I can see her rolling her eyes at me right this second. I think she'd like this one though. It's much more her style."

Will had managed to discover a light red and white set which kind of reminded him of the Cheerios and their uniforms. It did occur to the Spanish teacher that Quinn might not want the reminder but she had adored being a Cheerio and their captain, no less, so it stood to reason that as a hint of happy memories from times gone by, the bright colour of the linens might just be enough to cause the fallen captain to regain some sense of looking to the future and the return of joy.

"Alright then," the overly committed saleswoman giggled, "just follow me and I'll process that for you then I'm off my shift so if you like, we can go get a coffee at the place round the corner. It just happens to serve the best coffee north of Colombia."

"Oh God," Will interrupted her awkwardly and already feeling himself blush a bright scarlet, "I'm sorry, but I can't go for coffee I'm afraid. I've really got to get home and set up my friend's room before I pick her up this evening. It was nice talking to you though."

As quickly as he could, he scarpered away from the over-zealous sales assistant, recalling that there were additional cashiers on the floor below and he would rather walk (or more aptly, jog) the extra distance just to avoid what must be the sneer of the rejected woman. Once he reached the checkout and had paid for the bed linens a haughty chuckle let loose from his lungs with the mortification and embarrassment turning into humour and incredulity. As he strode back to his car, he wondered all the way there just how someone thought they could pick up in the aisle of a department store when the customer had just told them that not only were they divorced but that a teenager who was clearly going through some stuff was about to move in. It truly was a mystery to the glee coach but as soon as he looked upon the prepared guest – no, Quinn's – room, he had the distinct feeling that he would be entirely content for the next few months just to tend to Quinn and get the glee club ready for Regionals.

It was a few hours later when he got the call from the hospital saying that Quinn was ready to be collected from Outpatients and asking if someone would be along to get her or if she needed to be put into a cab. He was appalled by the thought of her just being pawned off on a strange taxi driver even if he had every intention of driving over to the hospital to get her and bring her home, but he supposed that some people were unfortunate enough not to have people who could support them and step up when the hard times came to call. That was just a fact of life, but he still thanked God that Quinn Fabray was not a poor, lost soul like that. Before he left his home, he took one last look at the newly decorated bedroom that was to be Quinn's and smiled, truly satisfied with what he had accomplished with his afternoon: a safe place and a homely one at that for one of his favourite students.

When he saw her sitting in a wheelchair he smiled and called her name, but when he realised that his exclamation caused her to flinch and awake from the trance she was in just made him realise just how careful he would have to be around her at home.

A nurse who saw him approach, intercepted him before he could reach Quinn and instructed him tersely, "Mr. Schuester, I understand you will be Miss Fabray's primary care giver during her recovery?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Well, then, you need to know that she will have to stay on bed rest until the end of her pregnancy and when I say bed rest, I mean no walking, no excitement, no undue stress of any kind. If she does overexert herself, she could go into premature labour and it could result in all kinds of complications for her and her child."

Will sighed, still unable to believe how much had been heaped on the unsuspecting teenager, "I understand. I've booked some leave at the school so I'll make sure she rests."

The nurse saw the deep care the man before her bore for his student and had a feeling that she was not failing her duty of care by releasing the poor girl into his guardianship. When she had been informed of her patient's situation and where she was to live for the foreseeable future, she had been more than sceptical, but maybe the girl's glee coach had the right attitude and capabilities to nurse Quinn Fabray back to health.

"Thanks for all your help," Will continued, "I know Quinn really appreciates it."

She nodded and went back to the nurse's station, not psyched that she had pulled the nightshift that night and it was looking to be a particularly gruelling graveyard shift.

"Will, can we go ho-" Quinn began but then pinched her brow, before finishing, "can we go back to your place?"

"Sure we can but Quinn, you know it is okay for you to ask if we can go home, right?"

"Uh huh," she whispered, "I just want to get out of this hospital. It gives me nightmares."

He placed a hand gently on her shoulder and squeezed, "Okay. We'll be home in half an hour."

"Good."

That was the last word she spoke until Will pulled his car up to the front of his house and unclicked his seatbelt. It suddenly dawned on him that they had left the wheelchair at the hospital and she would have to get from the car to the front door and then upstairs on mostly her own steam until a rather 'gleetastic' idea popped into young Mr. Schuester's head.

He quickly hopped out of the car and pulled open the passenger-side door and reached across Quinns so rapidly that she didn't have the opportunity to react, unbuckling her belt and in one fell swoop lifting her fair form into his arms. Once she had been deposited in his strong embrace as he rose to lift her bridal style, she began her hegira.

"Mr. Schue, Will," she cried, "what the hell do you think you're doing? Put me down! I can walk, you know? I'm pregnant, not ill!"

Recollecting the nurse's severe instruction, Will chided, "Quinn, be quiet and calm down and no you cannot walk. The nurse told me _strictly _to keep you off your feet and I know you're pregnant and not ill. I'm not an idiot. I've got your room all set up and the last thing I need is to make a Hail Mary trip back to the hospital because you suddenly felt faint walking up the stairs and landed flat on your face only to get my ass handed to me by that really scary nurse. So, do I have your permission to carry you upstairs?"

Quinn could have cried in that instant. Now that the initial shock of being hoisted out of the car and into her housemate's muscular arms had worn off, it was all truly hitting home hard just how far she had fallen in recent months. She still couldn't – and didn't know if she would ever be able to – believe that the only person she had in the world was Will Schuester who was being all sweet and kind and generous and understanding towards her, making room for her in his life and home, taking leave with the school so he could take proper care of her. It was all just a bit of a stretch for the imagination of the former cheerleaders' captain.

"Yeah, you do," she murmured almost so quietly he couldn't hear her, "and thank you."

He proceeded to walk carefully up to the door and managed to fiddle his key into Quinn's hands and manoeuvre their bodies so that she could open the door in a fit of giggles at his physical contortions and then turn on the hallway light. She dropped the keys in their bowl as though it was habit, which made Will smile, before he negotiated the flight of stairs that led to the living quarters of his small suburban house.

As soon as Will shoved open the door to Quinn's new bedroom and she turned on the light, the sharp inhalation of breath made his eyes dart to her face in worry but the moment they alit on the gentle smile that was turning up the corners of her lips which also reached the very cores of her pupils, he knew he had done good. He would have been happy to stand there holding Quinn in his arms as she simply took in the sight before her and loved it (it seemed) for hours, but his arms were beginning to revile the exertion of having a pregnant girl in them. Will glided over to the bed, unwilling to jostle Quinn out of her reverie, and set her down on the bed before sitting at the other end to face her.

"Do you like it?"

"Like it? I think it's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me…ever," she spluttered out, "and I don't know how to thank you, for any of it. I can only say how sorry I am that I've made you go to so much trouble."

He inched closer to her so he could hold her hand, "No, don't apologise, not to me. I miss the company and having someone around here, so call me selfish, cos I did it just so I can have someone to talk to at home."

"I can't call you selfish, Will. I doubt anyone can. You do so much for us glee kids and you don't really take any credit for it. So, whoever calls you selfish is talking out of…well, not out of their head!"

Will frowned at what he thought might have been her first joke and light-hearted comment since the attack and when her smile let forth a musical laugh, he couldn't help but laugh with her.

When he finally held his guffaws in check, he realised just how fatigued he was and how exhausted she must be, so he just asked, "Quinn, I'm wiped so I'm going to get some z's, but is there anything else you would like or need that I can get for you?"

"No, I'll be fine here."

He smiled in understanding, "Okay, then," but then blurted out, "the glee club all want to come this weekend and see you but I said I'd leave it up to you. It's completely your decision, but all they want to do is be here for you and be your friends and it might help you to just let them."

"I'll think about it…how's that?" She replied, hoping that she would feel up to seeing her friends but not wanting to get Will's hopes up.

He smiled as he rose from the soft bed and wished Quinn a goodnight before going to his own bedroom to get some much needed rest after such a trying couple of days. It spoke volumes as to how overworked and how the ordeal had taken its emotional toll on Will Schuester that a second after his head landed on the downy pillow of his bed, still clad in his day clothes, sleep took hold of the beleaguered man.

It would have been the easiest thing for Will to have slept serenely through the night not to be roused until the sun shone through his bedroom window at 7:30am, however, as he had been thoroughly taught over the past year, life was a bitch.

When the screams reached his languid ears, he rolled over to check what time it was before hastening down the hall to the girl he could hear screaming her lungs out. It saddened him that it was only 01:00am, which meant that said wailer had only managed to get about three hours sleep and those hours had probably not been filled with peaceful sleep.

Once he reached her bedside, he struggled to restrain the gyrating, shrieking pregnant girl, but the minute he got his arms firmly clasped around her shaking and clammy midriff, he murmured, "Shhhh, Quinn, it's alright. Quinn, it's alright, just wake up and it'll all be over. Just wake up."

It dawned on the inexperienced languages teacher that holding Quinn so tightly was probably not helping her in her night terror but he did not want her to physically harm herself as she threw herself about on the bed. It was only when he heard the words underneath the scream that he comprehended just what his student was seeing in her mind's tortured eye.

"Just cum! Do it and let me die!" Quinn screeched at the top of her voice as she fought Will's iron grip and tried to fight back at her invisible assailant.

Then, the venomous tears cloyed Will's eyes and made them burn in anger and anguish. He knew all he had to do was wake her up and then she'd be back with him in the now and away from that monster who had turned her into this stammering and tormented shadow of her former self. He knew it was probably a bad decision, but nevertheless, he could see no other way to rescue Quinn from her nightmare, so Will held her down flat while he sat on the bed and pulled her into his lap so she was facing away from him. One of his arms stayed wrapped tautly around her while the other snaked up to her head and he let his hand just glide over her hair damp though it was from the cold sweat she had worked up.

"Quinn, sweetheart, just wake up and it'll be okay. I'm here, just wake up now." Will chanted over and over again, waiting and watching as her fight died down and her breathing evened out.

It took a while for his ministrations to soothe her into consciousness, but he exhaled a sigh of relief when he heard her suddenly say his name and try to turn to face him. Awkwardly, she did manage to twist in his lap and buried her head in his chest while wrapping her still trembling arms around his slender body seeking comfort wherever she might find it.

"I'm sorry. I woke you up, didn't I?" She asked as the tears flowed and her breath hitched.

He shook his head, "No, Quinn, well, actually yeah you did, but don't worry about it. It's no problem. I can sleep anytime. Do you think you'll be able to get back to sleep or shall I stay with you for a while?"

"I'm not going back to sleep, but you don't have to stay up with me. You can go back to bed if you want. I can read a book or something."

Will laughed softly, "I didn't give you that option. You are not staying up alone so you can sit here and talk to me for a while until you feel better or you can try and go back to sleep."

"I'd like to talk for a bit, if that's okay?"

"I can do that. So, what do you want to talk about?" Will agreed.

She sat and thought for a moment before suggesting, "Glee club?"

He extracted himself from Quinn's arms and moved to lean against the headboard and gestured for Quinn to come and sit beside him before he asked, "So, got any ideas for songs we can do for Regionals? Any choreography suggestions?"

"No, not really."

Will looked at her with a cheeky smile on his face, "You said you wanted to talk about glee but you've got nothing to say. You should write a song for them to sing and dance to. That way you can have a bigger role in the lead up to Regionals since you probably can't come to all that many rehearsals."

Quinn smiled back at her friend, "I'm not that good a songwriter, but I do want to go to some practices, Will, even if I just sit on the benches and watch. No offence, but I don't want to just stay in this house for the next couple of months."

"That sounds like a plan and none taken." He replied, giving her a wink.

They talked for about an hour about what she could and couldn't do and what foods she liked and magazines and music. He promised to go to the store tomorrow and get her some posters of artists she liked like Michael Bublé and Bob Dylan, which he offered to put up in her bedroom for her. She reciprocated and vowed not to roam the house when he was out (and when he was in too!). Their conversation moved onto his marriage and his experiences when he was a student at WMHS. They laughed together for what seemed like hours but soon enough, Will began to see the tiredness overwhelm the expectant teenager and knew he would soon succumb to his own fatigue.

"If you're feeling tired, I can go," Will offered with a yawn, "it is 3:30am, after all."

"I'm not the one who's yawning." Quinn rebutted, but laid her head down to rest it on Will's shoulder.

"You are on the inside."

"What do you know?"

"More than you do!"

Quinn groaned, too tired to continue bickering with Will. Her muscles relaxed and she began to slip down the bed. Within seconds, her head had moved to rest near the crook of Will's elbow and she was almost entirely horizontal and yearning for the peaceful sleep that had so far eluded her.

"Yeah, you're not tired," Will joked, "so I'll say goodnight, I'll let you get some sleep, Quinn, and I'll see you later."

"Okay," she mumbled, sleep already claiming her, "'night, Will. Love you."

His body seized up as he heard those last syllables spring unexpectedly – and he was sure, unintentionally – from her lips. Before he could call her on her words, he noticed that her eyelids had already shut and she was emitting little snores as she slipped further and further asleep so he just crept quietly down the hall and fell into his own bed.

Quinn's words had thrown him into an emotional and moral storm but as much as he endeavoured to convince himself that she must have thought he was her dad wishing her goodnight or just relaxed enough that she felt safe enough to say it, Will could not shake the concept that something had changed. He felt as though he was her family and was proud that he made her feel at ease enough to express such an emotion, not that he really believed she held him in such esteem, just that she felt she could love again now that she was properly sheltered and under no form of attack. Did he love her as family though? On consideration, Will Schuester realised then and there that the answer to that question was affirmative. He did think of the girl in the room down the hall as part of his family. He had before he had taken her into his home, the way he considered all the glee kids his extended family, but now that they had become significantly closer, Quinn was more his family than anyone else in the world right now.

That musing was the last thing that shot through his synapses before he ceded to sleep and dreamt of the new family he had found in Quinn and what a quirky and 'gleetastic' family they were together.


	5. Chapter 5

_Saturday (two days later)…_

I tell thee, minstrel, I must weep,  
Or else this heavy heart will burst;  
For it hath been by sorrow nursed,  
And ached in sleepless silence, long;  
And now 'tis doomed to know the worst,  
And break at once - or yield to song.

~ _My Soul is Dark _(Lord G. Byron)

While the past two days had been difficult for both of them as they adjusted to their new living arrangements, in the light of Will choosing not to bring up Quinn's…confession, affairs in the Schuester-Fabray house were not as trying as they might have been. Quinn's room looked a right sight better since Will had gone to get a few posters and photos from Mercedes' on the Friday and splattered them around the place so that not only Quinn's room, but Quinn's home felt more like theirs instead of his.

"Quinn," Will bellowed upstairs, "do you want any movies for tonight cos I can go to the rental?"

She shouted back, "No, I texted Kurt. He's bringing entertainment crap."

"Language!"

"Sorry, _Mr. Schue_!"

He groaned, for Quinn had taken to calling him by his formal name when – according to her – he behaved like a dorky teacher and not a cool housemate. It was vexing at times, but it gave her a small amount of joy so he put up with it like any cool housemate would.

"When are the guys getting here?" Quinn asked from the comfort of her bed where she sat upright but wearing her lilac pyjamas.

"In about half an hour." Will responded as he headed upstairs, not wanting to wreck his voice with all the shouting he was doing to the bedridden Quinn.

"WHAT?!" She shrieked.

The change in her tone from basic enquiry to fury and horror turned his walk into a sprint and when he rounded the corner into her bedroom, he was appalled and disappointed by what he saw.

"Help me!"

Quinn was attempting to get out of bed but was utterly failing with one arm in a plaster cast and the other strapped not to mention a burgeoning belly to contend with.

"Why do you need to get up?" Will asked, hurrying to her side to grip her by the arms and sit her down.

"Because people are going to be here in a short while," she snapped, "and I am still wearing pyjamas, not wearing makeup and look like I just got up!"

After living with Terri for most of his life, he was accustomed to the sensibilities of women who were attentive to their appearances above all else yet he still couldn't grasp why naturally beautiful women worked themselves into a pointless frenzy trying to look artificially pretty. He was well aware that Quinn wanted to paint away all her bruises and all the signs she possibly could that told her tragic story but the people coming knew of and loved her bruises, bump and all, so it seemed aimless to Will, but his opinion didn't matter. It was all about making Quinn strong enough to engage with people other than him again and eventually get her out of the house.

"Do you need help with anything? Not that I imagine I'll be of any use with the makeup…" Will offered.

"I'm being unreasonably difficult, aren't I?" She asked meekly.

They had gotten to the point where they could jest a bit with each other, so Will responded, "Yes, Quinn, yes you are, but it's fine. You're about to see your friends for the first time after the attack, so you're completely allowed to be nervous."

"Good cos that's how I feel."

He pulled her into a reassuring hug and tried to take some of the weight (both metaphorical and literal) off her so her burden wasn't so heavy, but she simply would not let him do more than be there. It was frustrating but she would let him in and then others when she was good and ready, he just hoped – for her sake – that it would not take too long for her to open up. God knew the girl needed a full night's sleep. She hadn't slept through the night yet and Will had spent last night at the foot of her bed because she was so terrified that 'Bobby' would come back.

"You go and get yourself ready then," Will said to her, releasing her from his embrace, "and I'll sit here in case you need me."

"Fine. I'll be ten minutes or so."

"Alright. Yell if you need me."

As Quinn moved slowly to her bathroom, she smiled and murmured, "I can't yell all the time, Will."

That was enough. Just that small acknowledgment that he was helping was enough to send Will Schuester over the moon with self-satisfaction.

It took her half an hour (girl time!) to feel prepared enough to go downstairs and meet people and as Will carried her downstairs he felt her nerves as though they were burning through her body and searing his. When he deposited her on the couch and brought her the woolly blanket she liked to cover herself with, what the both of them were about to do truly descended upon him.

Quinn was about to come face-to-face with the others in New Directions who had not seen her since before she was ravaged, but he was about to have the entire club in his house. Will Schuester was about to open his personal life up to the kids he doted on, more than it was already anyway, and much like Quinn only felt at ease around him, he felt the same about her. He wasn't outgoing unless he was performing, he definitely preferred things to be close to home and private, but as much as Quinn had become his family, he'd have to let her friends in too.

"Will, are you alright?" Quinn asked hesitantly watching as the face of her friend blanched and turned ashen.

"Huh? What? Yeah, I'm fine," Will mumbled, looking at his watch, "the guys will be here soon, so I'll order us a load of pizza and put the drinks out. You okay here?"

She nodded, unsure why her housemate had suddenly become cold and distant but as he strode away from her, she understood why.

When he returned with the bottles of soda and plastic cups, she beckoned him over and waved away his concerns. As she took his hands in her bruised and plastered hands, she whispered, "I'll call you Mr. Schue when the guys are here. Don't worry so much. You like you're about to have a coronary and if you did, where would I be?"

"Good point." He stammered, feeling instantly relieved that she knew him almost better than he knew himself.

Before either of them could get another word out the old-fashioned doorbell chimed away. Will just squeezed Quinn's good hand and winked at her before going to answer the door.

"Hi, Mr. Schue," Puck said, the raw nerves making his voice stutter, "I brought you some wine."

"Puck," Will nodded in greeting, wishing fervently that God might have brought Kurt or Mercedes or any other kid to his house before the father of Quinn's unborn child.

As Puck entered, Will looked down at the bottle of red wine that the boy had given him and sharply inquired, "Puck, where – and more importantly, how – did you get a bottle of wine?"

"Doesn't matter. Where's Quinn?"

She called out from the living room, "I'm in here, Puck. Come on through."

Ordinarily, Will would have immediately offered to get his guest a drink, but seeing as every guest was going to be shocked at Quinn's appearance and she was going to be particularly…besieged, he wanted to be there for her. Beverages could wait.

Noah was apprehensive about seeing Quinn especially after Mr. Schue had made it clear to all of them that her attack had been brutal and looked it. He had been told that the baby had survived the ordeal, which made him bizarrely proud, and that was a small miracle but he was still not steeled enough for the sight of the usually indomitable Quinn Fabray reclined on the couch, enveloped by some old people's furry blanket and having skin that was patchy with the black and blue and purple tinging it under the copious, yet futile, application of foundation.

"Oh, Quinn," Noah sighed, looking down at the beige carpet, "I'm sorry."

She smiled, "What for?"

"For what's happened to you. I should have been there to stop it, to stop him."

Quinn flinched at the change of pronoun but she murmured, "I'm glad you weren't there, Puck."

"How are you feeling? Both of you?" He asked pointedly as his eyes fell to stare at her stomach.

She rubbed her stomach, "I'm fine and so is she."

"Good. That's great."

Will smiled as he looked on from the corner, not wishing to intrude on Quinn and Puck's 'reunion' but feeling innate pride that Quinn had managed to negotiate her way through what he knew she thought would be the trickiest of conversations.

"Hey, Mr. Schue, you got any grub? I'm starving!" Puck asked.

"I ordered pizza a couple of minutes ago, but help yourself to drinks. No alcohol though!" He directed with a pointed but well-meaning glare at Noah.

The men passed each other in the hall, one going for the drinks, the other heading to his friend's side. Will plopped down on the sofa beside Quinn and held her hand.

"Well done, Quinn," he said, "and you thought that was going to be difficult."

"No I didn't! Thanks anyway, though."

He squeezed her hand, "You did and you're welcome."

The doorbell rang once more and Puck announced that he would answer it as he was closest and it was Finn, Rachel, Kurt and Mercedes, who had apparently all carpooled after collaborating on entertainment plans for the evening. Apparently, that entailed bringing over a karaoke machine, _Mean Girls _and _Dirty Dancing_.

When the quartet at the door saw the state of Quinn, whereas Puck had managed to get a sentence out, none of them could form a single word. They just stood in front of her and Will with their mouths agape and with widened eyes.

Luckily, Puck came back to the living room and quipped, "What happened to you? Goldfishes much?"

That jerked the four kids out of their intense examination of Quinn's body and without uttering a word, they all just found seats and starting talking to her, Will and Puck. Will reckoned that some people liked to help by ensuring everything was as good as it possibly could be, whilst others preferred leaving the past in the past and allowing the victim to move on without too much interrogation. Both methods had their merits but he had not expected the three loudest members of his glee club – Kurt, Mercedes and Rachel – to adhere to the latter.

They were all quite happy sitting in Will and Quinn's living room just chatting about matters that didn't matter and jokes that weren't funny (mostly Will's!). It did not take long for Brittany and Santana to arrive or Mike, Tina and Artie, who all had to wait for Artie's dad to get home so someone could chauffeur him over with his girlfriend despite her spending a significant amount of time with Mike. Will guessed things were still not great with the couple, but had vowed to himself that he would not interfere beyond his due. It was enough that he was living with one of his pupils, let alone ingratiating himself into the others' personal lives. It was only when Will went to the door to get the pizza pies that the group had been sorely waiting for that the mood took a sudden and unexpected bad turn.

The doorbell rang and immediately the group chorused, "Pizza!"

"Finally!" Noah added from his spot on the couch beside the mother of his child.

Quinn had managed to keep all her emotions in check while her friends amassed around her, all pledging support and company and anything and everything else she might require during her recuperation period. However, Will had maintained his stalwart position on her left throughout and she understood that his comforting and strong presence beside her was what was keeping her on a somewhat even keel. She felt more or less fine when she was by herself and he was in the house or she was waiting for him to return, but the sensation of being in their house with others and his not being right next to her was stretching Quinn's capabilities.

Just as Will handed the guy the money, he heard a sharp and painfully familiar shriek. As he pivoted on his heels, he took in the blanched and confounded visages of the kids in his living room looking at the couch where Quinn and Puck were seated.

"Quinn, babe," Puck said, trying to pull her into his embrace to comfort her, "what's up?"

Will hurried back, shoving the pizza down on the table and returning to Quinn's side, he looked at Rachel and asked, "What the hell happened? She was fine a minute ago."

Rachel flinched at her teacher's language but shrugged, "I don't know, Mr. Schue. She just screamed."

"Quinn? Quinn," Will called to her calmly, "what's the matter? Talk to me."

"He," she stammered faintly, "he touched me."

"Who?"

She looked at Puck and nodded at him, her voice getting lost in her hyperventilation.

As calmly as he could, Mr. Schuester turned to Puck and asked, "What does she mean?"

"Not a clue!" Puck replied, unable to comprehend why the girl had suddenly turned into a banshee.

"You did," Kurt piped up, "just before she screamed, you accidently brushed your hand against her leg when you were about to reach for your cup."

Everyone looked at Puck with an accusatory glare, but ashamed that he had caused such a reaction, he just meekly apologised, directing his words chiefly at Will and Quinn.

"Okay," Will pronounced, now he understood why his housemate and friend had behaved so, "Quinn, are you feeling alright? Do you want to go and rest for a while? I can take you upstairs…"

She smiled at him and patted him on the arm, "No, I'm fine. Can I just have a glass of water please?"

"Sure." Will acquiesced, rising to fetch it but Finn waved him down and said he'd get it.

Finn saw how being surrounded by all of the 'interlopers' had frazzled Quinn and made it hard for her to cope, but it seemed to him that once Mr. Schue had taken his place next to her, she seemed to find I easier to calm down and breathe better. He had always looked on the glee club coach as a pseudo-father but it seemed that he was not the only one who relied on Will Schuester for guidance and comfort in times of trouble.

While Quinn relaxed and slumped back into the comforting fabric of the sofa, the rest of the group fell back into conversation. Only Will and Noah continued to watch Quinn as her breathing became even and she lost the abject look of shock and fear that had overtaken her countenance.

"Quinn," Noah began, "I'm _so _sorry. I didn't realise I'd touch you. I would never touch you without your consent. You know that, right? You know you have no reason to be scared of me? I need to know that you don't think of me like that."

She shook her head, "No, of course not. It's fine Puck. I feel so embarrassed. I didn't mean to make such a big deal. I didn't know I screamed until after I'd done it, I swear."

"Cool. I'm just going to go talk to Rachel."

Will and Quinn nodded as they watched the others in their company interact. The two of them were just happy to sit with each other and watch.

"You sure you're feeling fine? If you're not just say and I'll take you over to the ER."

Quinn patted Will's arm, feeling regretful that she had caused him to fret over her more than he did at any given time, "Honestly, I feel fine. I don't know why I reacted that way to Puck touching me and he didn't even do it intentionally. God, I am such a basket case nowadays."

Although she tried to make the last statement a joke, it was apparent that she truly thought of herself as insane and therefore undesirable and unable to be in society but Will wished to set her straight, "No, you're not. Don't talk about yourself that way because it's not true and everyone knows it. Even you know it deep down but because you've had a crap thing happen to you, it'll take some time for you to feel like yourself again. Don't rush it and before you know it, you'll want to go out and cheer and sing and dance like the old Quinn Fabray."

"Thanks, Will," she said quietly so no one else could hear, "I appreciate that. Can I ask a favour though?"

"Course you can. Anything."

She inhaled, "Can I have a hug?"

He looked at her for half a minute recollecting her dreamily spoken words of two days ago, but he was not going to hold her accidental confession against her and she had just been overwrought by experiencing physical contact with Puck. So, he just nodded with a friendly smile and extended his arms.

Mercedes observed her former roommate give her Spanish tutor a hug and noted the comfortable smile that spread over Quinn's face replacing the ashen and fraught expression she had been wearing previously. True, she had been offended and upset to learn that Quinn would be moving out when Will had retrieved what little luggage Quinn possessed, but now she could see that the two lost souls were helping each other through their tough situations and whatever made Quinn feel safest was – in the end – the best thing for everyone.

Eventually, everyone acclimatised to Quinn's new living situation and the friendship that seemed to have bloomed between their glee coach and the former cheerleader and the evening fell into a convivial mood. True to form, Kurt and Rachel hooked up the karaoke machine to the TV and everyone got the chance to serenade Quinn, even Will when Finn coaxed him to take to the 'stage' with him. They gave a powerful and accomplished rendition of _Islands in the Stream_ which just ended with the two men falling over laughing at the stupidity of their song choice. Despite the abrupt ending of their number, everyone had a great time and at one point during Kurt and Mercedes' duet of _Ebony and Ivory, _Quinn was seen in full-blown laughter.

By 8:30pm, Will was done in and ready to go to bed and thought that it was probably time for Quinn to rest a bit too, but no one – including Quinn – was about to let him end the evening without watching at least one of the movies Kurt had brought. In the end, it was decided upon that _Dirty Dancing _would be the movie they would watch as Will had no desire to watch something with Lindsay Lohan in it.

It turned out to be a popular choice, resulting in the entire club dancing around the room to _Do You Love Me _and _Love Man, _though with less grinding than the actors. As the group watched the vacationers at Kellerman's dance the film out to _(I've Had) The Time of My Life_, Will observed that the figure who was beside him was no longer conscious and after a moment of worry, he grinned at the understanding that Quinn had fallen fast asleep.

He subtly and carefully extracted his arm and switched off the TV, saying to the other members of the glee club, "Guys, it's been great having you over and you've been great to Quinn today, but as you can all see, she's wiped and I'm pretty tired too, so we'd best call it a night. I'll see you all on Wednesday."

"You're coming back on Wednesday? Will we have practice?" Rachel asked.

"Yes to both and goodnight, Rachel."

Once the host of teenagers were ushered from the house, Will walked back over to where Quinn was reclining on the couch, her hands clasped over her stomach in contentment. He attempted to lift her without waking her, but his effort was made in vain, for the minute he laid a finger on her, she stirred.

"Hi," she said blearily looking about her, "when did everyone leave?"

"Just now." Will replied, trying to stave off a yawn.

"We're tiring work for you, huh?"

"You have no idea," Will said with a wink, slumping down onto the sofa beside her, "so do you fancy a cup of cocoa before bed?"

"Sure," Quinn answered, "but before you go, and while we're alone, I just wanted you to know that I remember what I said that time. Though, I do know why you've been pretending that you'd forgotten and I appreciate it, but you shouldn't have."

"Quinn, what are you talking about?"

"I remember telling you that I love you." Quinn admitted with an uncertain smile.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:**

Just a warning to say that soon I'm going to Tunisia for a fortnight and I have examinations for a couple of days after I get back, so I probably won't be able to post Chapter Seven until – at least – May 10th. I apologise for this, but I did make a real effort to give you gorgeous readers this chapter before I set off later today, so I do hope you enjoy it. Please do review whether you do or don't enjoy the chapter as I will still be getting emails in Africa.

DaenerysTargary3n

* * *

_Two minutes and forty-two seconds later…_

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:  
Its loveliness increases; it will never  
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep  
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep  
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

~ _Endymion _(J. Keats)

"Oh, Quinn," Will sighed, finding his voice once more, "you can't feel that way. You just can't."

"Why not?"

The floundering adult gripped the hands of the girl beside him who was just looking at him with her wide and spectacular eyes before he replied, "There are literally so many reasons why not. It's actually difficult to narrow it down."

"I assume you are talking about being my teacher and the age gap and how I am so ugly at the moment no one could want me back!" Quinn spat, ripping her hands out of his comforting grip in spite of how safe she felt when his skin touched hers.

Will's brow furrowed, "No, well, I mean, yes, but no! Argh, yes you are too young for me and you shouldn't have feelings for me because I am your teacher, but no, don't think – ever – that you are ugly. You are beautiful and don't all the guys know it. I mean, c'mon, you're Quinn Fabray."

"Quinn Fabray is dead. Now, I'm just some loser that gets slushied in the face and knocked up by a dumb jock, not to mention raped by some drunk hick who came out of nowhere and just…"

Will watched as Quinn descended into wails and breathless, tearless sobs wracked her body. He pulled her closer to him so he could embrace her but before he had her fully encircled in his arms, his muscles seized up.

"No," he spluttered, "I can't. Quinn, there are certain…boundaries. Boundaries which we simply cannot cross. This was what social services and all those people at the hospital and the Principal and Miss Pillsbury were worried would happen when they let me – against their better judgment, I might add – take you in. I gave them my word that nothing untoward would happen, that this arrangement was a strictly staff-pupil arrangement on a platonic level and that I wouldn't take advantage of you!"

"I'm not asking you to take advantage of me. That is such a pre-feminist phrase, anyway. I have feelings and can act on them just as much as you can! It's not like you're some sexual predator or whatever who is preying on tiny, powerless children. Although I may not look it and don't really feel it, I am not powerless and I know my own mind, and more importantly, my own heart. It's a heart that has fallen for you: the one person in all the world who has been and is protecting me and standing up for me when I haven't been able to and all the time since the attack."

Will grimaced at her profuse admission, "That is precisely why you _don't _feel that way though, Quinn, don't you see?"

It was as she heard her name fall musically from his lips the way every word sounded when he spoke that she twisted toward those pert lips and planted hers on them. She felt the initial moment shock as Will's lips flinched from her touch and fretted that he would push her away, but she caught a glimpse of the man almost beneath her clamp his eyes shut and melt into the sensuality of her lips as they suckled his.

Once Quinn was certain that he was not going to retreat from her touch, she cupped his face, feeling the stubble scratch erotically at her palms and licked the rims of his teeth as she pressed her advantage. The joy and elation she felt when Will responded in kind and his arms went to her sides forced her belly up to lightly graze Will's abdomen. That was expected, but the sharp pang she felt immediately after their midriffs collided was not.

The jab to his stomach through Quinn's pulled Will from his brief reverie and he exclaimed, "What was that? Are you feeling okay? I'm so sorry, that was a mistake. We shouldn't have kissed. If you feel ill, we can go to the hospital. Just let me find my keys."

"No, no," Quinn responded quickly with a smile and gestured for Will who was already rising from the couch to reclaim his place beside her, "it wasn't a mistake and yes I am feeling fine, better than fine actually. That was the baby kicking. She does that sometimes."

"Wow, that's amazing, Quinn. It's great that she's fine."

Quinn smiled and rested her hand where she felt the baby's legs flex against her belly and when Will's hand touched her shoulder and she felt the electric jolt zip through her entire system, it became apparent to the young mother-to-be that her unborn daughter was quite attached to Will Schuester, almost as much as she was.

"Can you do me a favour, Will?"

He looked surprised but nodded, "Sure, what do need?"

"Just hold my hand and talk."

"Talk about what?"

She smiled and manoeuvred his hand and played with his fingers, feeling the same fire she felt whenever he came into contact with her, waiting for the child's response to accompany hers.

"Anything," she replied, "talk about sports, glee club, that kiss, which was amazing by the way. It doesn't really matter. I'm just trying to test out a theory."

Will chuckled but acquiesced. He chose the second of her choice of topics, not knowing anything about the first and wanting to leave the last until she was feeling alright without a doubt. It seemed to take only five minutes or so of meaningless drawl about potential glee club choreography before Quinn's experiment yielded positive results he judged from the iridescent smile that swam across her face after he mentioned a move that separated the guys from the girls in a river dance-esque turn.

"Well?" He inquired, her smile producing one on his face too, for he never – not even when they were simply faculty advisor and student – could not smile whenever Quinn Fabray was.

As tears built up, rendering her eyes a duskier shade of sage green, she murmured, massaging her taut stomach dotingly, "I guess that proves it. My daughter knows her daddy, without even seeing him, she knows. Smart, clever girl."

"I'm sorry…what?" The 'daddy' gasped.

"She knows who her daddy was meant to be," Quinn whispered with tears now in full flow down her alabaster cheekbones, "she knows that the man sitting next to me wept at how beautiful she is and worked so hard when he thought she would be a part of his future. I can see by that aghast look on your face that you're contemplating calling for a psych consult but let me tell you that recently, whenever you touch me, she kicks…hard. Even when it's as innocent as just holding my hand, she knows that the person touching her mommy is her daddy."

The full meaning of her words and the sentiment behind them hit the glee club teacher like a sledgehammer to the forehead. Just hearing Quinn speak so kindly of him and of his connection to the child thriving in her womb made him lose complete control of himself and gave his tears permission to join his companion's.

"Quinn…" he said as he retracted his hands, "I'm not really her dad. You want to give her up for adoption, remember?"

She felt the coldness wash over her as Will's touch went away but the tears kept on coming, "I know that, but I…"

"What, Quinn?"

She looked down at her hands before whispering, "I don't want to give her up."

Her housemate froze at that confession. He honestly had no clue that while the girl who was still weeping incessantly before him was working through her issues post-rape, she was also battling with her decision to part with her baby.

"I had no idea you were reconsidering the adoption. I thought you found a couple to raise her?"

She bawled at that, "No, I haven't yet. I'm still searching for the right people but I just don't know if I should carry on. I really don't want to give up my baby, Will."

The strength of her cries and the slump of her posture made his heart twinge so Will just opened his arms and no time elapsed before Quinn plunged into his embrace sobs, salty tears and all. He stroked her hair and held her while they both cried. He wept in sympathy for her and because he so desired to be daddy to the baby that kicked in his presence and at his touch, while she cried because she doesn't know her own mind and because her body still feels soiled and broken.

From her place ensconced on his chest, she began to explain, "It was only when my parents were in the picture and then when they disappeared, I thought it might get them and my sister back that I was going through with the adoption. Seeing as how that's really not happening, I don't want them to come back," she looked up at him, "'cos the only person I want in my life is you."

Will sighed, cursing his stupid hormones and masculine chemistry, as he brushed the tears off her cheeks as softly as he could with the pad of his thumb, "Quinn, you're being irrational. Why don't I just take you up to bed and we can talk some more tomorrow? You've had a long day and seeing the guys was a tough experience, plus that incident with Puck…"

"No, I don't want or need to go to bed yet. You know I won't sleep well anyway."

He scowled at the recollection of the nightmares of nights past and murmured soothingly, "You can try. I can succeed. You can wake me up at stupid o'clock screaming the roof off. I can come in and stay with you until you get back to sleep. We can do what is rational and what we have done pretty much every night since you moved in."

"But love is irrational," Quinn replied shyly, "and we could have it, if you would let us."

"No, Quinn, I'm not doing that to you. I'm not in love with you. I care about you a lot and I consider you to be one of my best friends, if not my best friend and I know you don't deserve any of the screwed up things that have happened to you. I want to help you and see you be the Quinn Fabray you used to be. So please – for your own sake – stop saying and thinking you're in love with me because it's just a trick the mind plays on the heart."

As Will concluded his speech, Quinn's jaw dropped and she quelled her tears. Once the room quietened, Quinn pulled away from the comfort of Will and after one look at his eyes, she pushed him away forcefully. Unable to comprehend the feelings her Spanish teacher just confessed to alongside the words he had just uttered, she rose – ungainly though she was – and moved towards the stairs, not caring to be in the vicinity of Will Schuester.

"Wait, Quinn!" Will hollered after her as she moved slowly towards the vestibule, appalled that she would attempt to climb the flight of stairs on her own steam in spite of what the doctors and nurses had told them both at the hospital.

She got no further than fifteen strides before her hand jerked out to clench at the wall while her other went to her stomach as she doubled over. It was evident that soon she would fall, but before her legs gave out under her, Will managed to reach her side and pull her into his front. First of all, he thought that he might be able to bolster her and prevent her from collapsing, but when his arms were around her again, it seemed she was in too much pain to remain upright so he lowered both of them safely and securely until she was sitting on his lap on the hardwood floor.

"Quinn," Will asked, worried and terrified, "what is it? What hurts?"

All she could manage was a throaty groan, "It's…nothing, just a twinge. It'll go away in a few minutes. There goes my dramatic, Quinn Fabray signature storm off, anyway."

"It was formidable," Will replied partly jesting, partly serious, "just don't try it again. I'm not sure I could take the stress of seeing you almost take a dive like that. So, let's just sit here until you've calmed down a bit and feel better and then _I _will take you upstairs."

Quinn smiled at the man whose lap she was occupying a significant part of and reached up to stroke his cheek, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for freaking you out but thank you for catching me. I meant what I said; you are the only man I'll ever want now, but I'm not going to push the issue because I am so glad and so grateful that I have you as a friend and a housemate."

"I'll tell you this: I'm glad I have you as a friend and a housemate too. I was so lonely before you moved in and I am glad that, once I actually go back to work, I'll have you to come home to."


End file.
